Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-50507 is a medium-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 6.8 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Direct Volume Access (T1006); ranked in the top 9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and PE-3 (Physical Access Control) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-35589
Vulnerability Data
Missing authentication for critical function in Windows BitLocker allows an unauthorized attacker to bypass a security feature with a physical attack.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
BitLocker volume encryption bypass via physical attack directly enables direct volume access without OS/file-system controls.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces authentication before allowing access to the critical BitLocker decryption function, directly blocking the unauthenticated bypass described in CVE-2026-50507.
Restricts physical access to systems, reducing the attacker's ability to perform the physical attack needed to exploit the missing authentication.
Limits external connectivity that could be leveraged in conjunction with physical access to escalate or persist after the BitLocker bypass.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.
Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.
Defining and enforcing authorizations assumes prior authentication and therefore only partially mitigates the absence of authentication.
Protecting networks from unauthorized access can be undermined by missing authentication but does not address the root authentication gap.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.
Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.
Mandating authentication for network services and critical functions stops attackers from invoking sensitive operations without credentials, closing gaps where authentication is absent for important capabilities.
Security engineering principles insist on authentication and authorization for every critical function, eliminating entry points that lack any access control mechanism.
Requiring strong authentication and access-privilege enablement for remote connections ensures that critical functions cannot be invoked without proper verification, closing a gap that would otherwise allow unauthenticated use.
Mandatory use of access cards, biometrics, or two-factor authentication ensures that critical physical areas cannot be entered without proper authentication.